Author
Topic: Flesh me out! The Harlequin Zombie (Read 1702 times)

Good day ladies and gents; some of you may remember me, i'm sure =)As of late i've had no time or motivation to make posts or submissions in the citadel (let alone to visit the site at all!), but over the last few weeks i've been slowly chipping out another submission I was going to do. However, I've run out of time once more and my distracted mind doesn't conjure up these ideas as vividly any more. A sad tale, to be sure -

But anyway; Rather than let the submission I was making get lost as 'yet another incomplete text file' in the chasm of my hard drive, I figured I would dump the whole thing here - unedited and completely unrefined straight from the .txt file;In fact, this is probably a good example to show how my submissions are made; as you can see, there's many lines which don't even make much sense. To make a submission, I begin with a couple of good ideas and slap them in a text file. from that, I expand on each little idea and write it up in a novel-like manner. As I write up and expand each idea, often more ideas form which I quickly jot down randomly later on in the text file (to be expanded on [or removed] as I see fit), and so i suppose my submissions are made in a 'branching' manner. where I have one or two good base ideas, and other thoughts and ramblings are grown from that.

Anyway. Here's what I was working on. Feel free to ignore it, plagiarize it, expand on it or flame it as you see fit.The 'base idea' here was the image I had in my head of a monster dressed in jesters clothes (Sort of to make a mockery of everything its image suggests - spreading horror instead of joy), and the main branch off that idea was to make the zombie turn everyone who was near it into cackling madmen (permanent damage if overexposed).

Quote

harlequinzombie.txtIntroduction:...And around the corner we turned, to find four court jesters standing passively before us. But these were no ordinary jesters - how could they be, when they were standing in the cursed ruins of that great city! Their brightly coloured harlequinesque apparel belied their true, grim purpose. Oh, I knew the danger I was in. So why could I not wipe that grin off my face...?

plot/folklore of zombies etc...?Ramblings of a madman at tavern or whatnot. (old man constantly giggles nervously, as if trying to hold back laughter, then becoming visibly paranoid that someone might see him doing it)

Harlequin Zombies - teeth unnaturally grown and distorted into a permanent, unsightly bared-lip grin, their enemaled coating a swirling, glossy scarlet design which intentionally resembles droplets and lashings of blood. Closer inspection will reveal that they are in fact not wearing any headgear, and what appeared to be three-tiered 'jester-like' hats with balls on the end are in fact horrid disfigurements of flesh and cartilage - fleshy enough to 'bounce around' as they move, but solid enough that they don't sag. The 'balls' on the end of each fleshy 'tentacle' are in fact three unblinking eyes, their nerve-endings visibly attached to and entering in the mounds of skin. Their upper face is warped, also; those observant enough will notice that the Harlequin zombies have no noses, and merely retain two slits in its face. Where its eyes (or at least eye sockets) should be, the bone of the skull simply continues flush and two intricately drawn, piercing green eyes are instead painted in their place. The entirety of the creatures' head is beautifully decorated like pottery, using brightly hued glossy greens, blues, reds and yellows in swirling designs, making them appear more like macabre pieces of art, rather than shambling beasts.

their skin and flesh appears to be peeled back from the wrists leaving bone, and the bones of each finger are warped, instead resembling two-foot long, slightly curved sickle-like blades. The fingers constantly flex inward and outward, as if it is obsessively compulsively itching for something to grasp in its hands.

The way it moves is in a 'hopping, dancing' kind of motion, wherein they skip up on their left foot and turn their bodies to the left (right leg bent in the air), then bounce forward onto their right foot, twisting their bodies to the right. All the while their hands flex in that eager motion, palms facing upward. They can move at a fair speed using this motion - though it does appear awkward - however it would not be able to catch someone if they were to run away as fast as they could.

the reason they walk in such an odd twisting and turning 'dancing' gait is so they can see with each eye as it moves. Curiously enough, Its only blind spot is directly in front of it - though the painted eyes give a convincing illusion that it can see you.

Although in fiction this creature would be a work of beauty, the mere fact that something such as this exists is an abbheration.

"Face like pottery"

_________Godly intervention? Better than "A necromancer did it". A curse on a royal court for using and abusing the jesters, and a punishment to the jesters for allowing themselves to be used in that way.

- -- - less 'cliche' reason for zombie!? Original?

Even walking in the gloomy ruins which these creatures call home, adventurers cannot help but feel somewhat merry.

Being in the same area as these zombies for any period of time instils an ever-increasing sense of mirth. Those who are over-exposed to these creatures and their unworldly mirth-giving qualities (whether by spending more than several days in the same ruins, or spending an hour or two in the same immediate area) can actually have permanent psychological damage - wherein they cannot stop the occasional giggle or grin, even in inappropriate situations.

Ceramic

A day will come when my commitments are less and my imagination is fresh. I'd like to be able to churn them out like the old days.

I have an enormous plot brewing in my head which involves most of my current submissions; especially all those related to the Ouzquin Dremorix; One day I'll actually write it up.

So your zomies could have been like the old court jesters of old - part funnyperson, part magician. following this, they failed to protect the kingdom (let the shields fall agins't terrible odds) because some jesters random chuckle (very innapproiate timing) turns into a group laughing session. Megadeath beam of magical nookage cooks the central castle but not before the king group activates a curse previously placed on all jesters - to create the Harequin zombies.

At this point I'm trying to create a backstory for them that you won't want to use, so I'll shuttup.